On August 5, 1976, an eager audience jittered with excitement as Eric Clapton took the stage. Seeing Clapton, a man who had been dubbed God, in concert was like witnessing the second coming of Christ. Instead of turning water into wine, he turned the airwaves into golden melodic nectar that audiences drooled over. On this night, however, Clapton would prove that he wasn’t an all-knowing deity, but a regular guy more than capable of falling into the traps of ignorance.
As Clapton made his way across the stage, he stumbled and swayed and began to slur his way through an angry rant. He addressed the audience directly as he began, “Do we have any foreigners in the audience tonight? If so, please put up your hands. So where are you? Well, wherever you all are, I think you should all just leave. Not just leave the hall, leave our country. I don’t want you here, in the room or in my country.” He continued by voicing his support for right-wing British politician Enoch Powell and punctuating his sentences with the phrase, “Keep Britain White.” Clapton demanded that they stop Britain from becoming a “black colony.” His speech seemed unending as he continued spewing racist statements and questionable facts at the audience, who watched in horror as their god became someone unrecognizable. Was this the man they were supporting? Had they been so in awe of his guitar licks that they hadn't noticed the person playing them? Had the Eric Clapton they knew been a facade? “I used to be into dope, now I’m into racism. It’s much heavier, man.”
It wasn’t just the blatant racism that horrified fans and colleagues alike, but the sheer hypocrisy. This was Eric Clapton, a rock guitarist and a man famous for his love of the blues, two genres that would never have existed without black musicians. His career had been based almost entirely on black music, his most recent hit being a cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff.” His rant was infuriating and mind-boggling. He begged the audience not to let black people colonize Britain, all the while he had been colonizing black music. Clapton would never be seen in the same light again, his reputation was forever tarnished, and at his own hand. His crown had slipped and his metaphorical titles were stripped - but there was one good thing that would come from his heinous rant.
Clapton’s speech sparked the beginnings of a movement called Rock Against Racism. Rock Against Racism had been an idea tossed around for a while, but the events at Clapton’s August 5th concert in Birmingham finally brought it to fruition. The movement was founded by Red Saunders, Roger Huddle, Jo Wreford, and Pete Bruno. The quartet had been avid music fans and were horrified by Clapton’s statements. Together, they penned a response, which they sent to NME. The letter read:
“When I read about Eric Clapton’s Birmingham concert when he urged
support for Enoch Powell, I nearly puked. What’s going on, Eric? You’ve
got a touch of brain damage. So you’re going to stand for MP and you
think we’re being colonized by black people. Come on... you’ve been
taking too much of that Daily Express stuff, you know you can’t handle it.
Own up. Half your music is black. You’re rock music’s biggest colonist.
You’re a good musician but where would you be without the blues and
R&B? You’ve got to fight the racist poison, otherwise you degenerate into
the sewer with the rats and all the money men who ripped off rock culture
with their cheque books and plastic crap. Rock was and still can be a real
progressive culture, not a package mail-order stick-on nightmare of
mediocre garbage. Keep the faith, black and white unite and fight. We
want to organize a rank-and-file movement against the racist poison in
rock music – we urge support – all those interested please write to:
ROCK AGAINST RACISM,
Box M, 8 Cotton Gardens, London E2 8DN
P. S. “Who shot the Sheriff”, Eric? It sure as hell wasn’t you!”
The end of their letter called for musicians and music fans alike to support the movement and help in its creation - within two weeks, they had received over 600 replies. Fans had recognized the hypocrisy of Clapton and wanted to celebrate the black roots of the music they loved so dearly.
Two months later, in November 1976, Rock Against Racism put on their first gig in London. It was headlined by singer Carol Grimes and Matumbi, a British reggae band. The concert was a celebration of differences as white and black artists and music-enjoyers cast aside any differences they may have had and celebrated the music. At the end of the gig, all of the artists jammed together. It was a rarity to have black and white artists performing as one, but it became a staple at Rock Against Racism events. RAR would continue to put on shows, often recruiting big names on the punk scene, like The Clash, and various reggae bands. They also began a magazine publication, releasing fifteen issues in five years.
By 1977, local RAR groups had sprouted up all over; there were 200 groups in the UK alone. RAR’s reach had also extended across the globe as sects sprouted up in the United States, France, Belgium, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Denmark, South Africa, and Australia. Rock Against Racism proved that music was more than just pretty sounds, it could truly make a difference. It radicalized an entire generation just as punk came to the forefront of the music scene and showed the power music had to educate. RAR was one inspiration for Live Aid and helped destroy the National Front - a far-right, fascist political party in Britain. But, most importantly, Rock Against Racism made it cool to be anti-racist.
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